The Forest Survey 
United States. Postwar demands for housing, paper, and other forest products}7 
both at home and abroad have further emphasized the need for abundant timber] 
resources and for dependable information concerning them. 
One-third of the Nation’s productive land is available for and suited to the growing off! 
timber. Maintenance of ample timber supplies on this vast area is both a public and private 
responsibility. ‘This involves long-time planning and a reliable knowledge of forest conditions} , 
and forest-products requirements. Authentic facts must be gathered concerning the location} 
and condition of existing and prospective forests and forest lands, depletion and growth, 
and present and probable future requirements for forest products. To obtain such facts, 
Congress by the McSweeney-McNary Forest Research Act of May 22, 1928, authorized the} 
Nation-wide Forest Survey. | 
The fivefold purpose of the survey is: (1) To determine the extent, location, and condition 
of forest lands, and species, quantity, and quality of timber on these lands; (2) to ascertain 
\ ), 7 ORLD WAR II proved that timber is one of the indispensable resources of the 
of timber cut for industrial and domestic uses, and the losses from fire, insects, disease, sup-} 
pression, and other causes; (4) to ascertain the present and probable future trend in require- 
ments for forest products by all classes of consumers; and (5) to interpret these findings and | 
correlate them with other economic factors as a basis for formulating public and private 
policies for effective and rational use and management of land suitable for forest production. 
Results of the Forest Survey are published in a series of reports that aim to supply general 
information for a long-time program of planning for timber production and some detailed 
information of use in guiding forest-industry development. In this appraisal no attempt is 
made to evaluate the use of forests for watershed protection, wildlife, recreation, or grazing) ~ 
even though such services of the forest are often of paramount importance. 
The information presented here is applicable to Virginia and to major physiographic 
provinces within the State; it furnishes the background for intensive studies of critical situa- 
tions, but it is not designed to reflect conditions by counties. 
RAYMOND D. GARVER, 
Director, Forest Survey. Th 
